


Mike's Honor

by Aoife



Series: Mike's Honor [2]
Category: Honor Harrington Series - David Weber
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-20
Updated: 2012-04-27
Packaged: 2017-10-31 12:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoife/pseuds/Aoife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I've marked this as complete for the moment, as I ended up posting the next chapter as a stand alone.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Mike's Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I've marked this as complete for the moment, as I ended up posting the next chapter as a stand alone.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike gets back to HMSS Vulcan in time for HMS Fearless's relaunch. It's the first of a series of tiny changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you omit the struck through section, suddenly a whole other possibility opens up ... _" ~~Not that she was interested in women;~~ she just didn’t seem particularly interested in anyone—which might be just as well. It avoided all sorts of potential professional difficulties . . . and she rather doubted an overgrown horse like her would provoke much reciprocal interest, anyway. That reflection bothered her a bit. No, she thought, be honest; it bothered her a lot, and there were times her mother’s version of a sense of humor was less than amusing. But this wasn’t one of them, and she surprised them both by putting an arm around her and squeezing in a rare public display of affection." Chapter 1, The Honor of the Queen by David Weber_

"Mike!" Michelle Henke was rather gratified at the smile on her old friend's face. Honor had no idea that she'd grown into herself so well and the four golden bands of a captain of the list looked _right_ on her sleeves. Honor's grip was firm, but measured, and Mike resisted the urge to pull her into a hug - instead she released her hand and offered it to Nimitz to shake while slipping a celery stalk out of her other pocket.

Honor turned her head when she heard the crunch and looked at Mike only to shake her head and laugh when Mike started to mouth her normal speech about not ruining his appetite. "Michelle Henke, you are an evil, evil woman; but what _are_ you doing here? I know I invited you, but I thought Admiral White Haven's battlecruisers were out on exercise over at Gryphon?"

"Oh we were Honor, but we rather trounced the opposition force so we slipped home early, and here I am." Nimitz bleeked in approval and leapt easily across onto Mike's shoulder, causing her to oof and become unbalanced, just as one of the stewards touched Honor's shoulder and muttered something in her ear, causing her to frown.

"Stinker, do you want to stay with Mike? The admiral needs to talk to me before he returns to Manticore proper, but then I'll be right back." The 'cat nodded and rested his head carefully on Mike's beret. 

"It looks like I'm his lordship's designated perch for a while, then. It's just as well Ariel used to let me practise with him really, isn't it Honor?" Honor smiled, the small smile that was just Mike's and she missed, and slipped away through the crowd, leaving Mike and Nimitz watching her lithe form disappear.

"Two questions, Stinker, before we manage to find someone we'll both appreciate talking to …?" Mike slipped Nimitz another stick of celery and manoeuvred carefully through the crowded wardroom. Honor's parents were in here somewhere …

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where Mike was (canonically) at the beginning of The Honor of the Queen, but it suits the small changes I'm making to have her as a tactical officer aboard one of the battlecruisers that Admiral White Haven should have at this point (The Honor of the Queen covers perhaps three months). Tactical Officer aboard a Battlecruiser to Exec aboard a Battlecruiser seems a reasonable step.
> 
> \--- 
> 
> For people more at home on [DW](http://morrigans-eve.dreamwidth.org/172628.html) or [LJ](http://morrigans-eve.livejournal.com/168267.html), please comment there if you wish. 


	2. A Letter to Mike

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post sparring and Admiral Courvosier's discussion with Honor over the Graysons' behaviour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the nature of a missing scene; and taking place about halfway through Chapter 7 of [The Honor of the Queen](http://www.baenebooks.com/10.1125/Baen/0743435729/0743435729.htm), after Admiral Courvosier calls Honor on why she's sparring with Sergeant Major Babcock so much.  
> 

Honor curled up in her day cabin's most comfortable chair, pulled the tiny personal recorder out of her kimono's pocket and set it down gently on the coffee table before coaxing Nimitz down into her lap, sitting there for a long moment, enjoying his warmth and the deep subsonic purr. He was worrying away at the deep well of anger that was accumulating at the pit of her stomach and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Stinker …" Honor shook her head lightly. "… no, that's not true. I'd want to do something spectacularly undiplomatic and would probably be lining up the rest of the Marines to beat on to give me enough of a release valve to stop myself doing so." She brushed a couple of fingers lightly over the bruises that Sergeant Major Babcock had left her with in their earlier training bout and pressed them, savouring the ache and Nimitz's buzzing purr picked up an edge.

"Ok, ok, I'll stop it!" His purr lost the edge and his tail batted at the small recorder on the table. "Who am I recording a letter for today, Nimitz. Momma? Papa?" He shook his head slowly, and held up a stick of celery, which made her giggle - and she _hated_ the sound of her giggle - it made her sound like an overgrown schoolgirl.

"Mike did a good job of buying your loyalty at the Academy didn't she, Stinker?" He nodded and crunched happily on the stalk of celery he'd pulled from somewhere. MacGuiness had definitely fallen for the 'cat if he'd started concealing random stashes of celery round her cabin.

"A letter for Mike it is then, Stinker." He bleeked happily, and Honor blinked in surprise when he successfully smacked the recorder and turned it on. "What am I going to do with you, Nimitz?" His grin was cheshire-cat-like, and she felt it's echo twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"Hi Mike. At his Nibs insistence, it appears I'm dictating a letter for you today." The 'cat perked his head up, and waved at the device, his purr quieting down and smoothing out.

"Be glad you didn't pull _this_ duty, Mike. The Graysons are a bunch of bigots." She almost spat the last word, and then shook her head. "Oh, the Admiral called me on that when he realised what I was doing spending quite as much time sparring with the Gunny, and some of them, including their High Admiral are trying, but I think I better be elsewhere for a while - I do have the rest of the convoy to take to its destination, and the Admiral agreed to let me take them rather than keep me in system to fly the flag, even if it was a bit reluctantly …" Honor settled lower into her seat, and her hands absently petted and stroked at Nimitz's fur while she talked to her best friend.

She'd get this and her letters to her parents on the dispatch boat that was detailed to play postman for them. It would be back in another three weeks or so, and perhaps the kick in the pants Mike would deliver in reply, along with the progress the Admiral would hopefully have made, would allow her to keep her temper with the Graysons.


	3. Here's to Apollo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short scene that fits into my Mike's Honor series when the Apollo arrives back in Manticore with the squadron's injured and news of the threat posed by "Thunder of God".

Mike's head shot up at the tactical section, and her fingers flew across her console in an attempt to refine the data she was receiving. 

"What is it, Guns?" Her captain looked at her curiously. 

"Sir, something just made a crash translation, right on the hyper limit on the least time course from Yeltsin's Star ..." Mike bent back over her console. "She's about the size of one of our light cruisers, and I don't think she's in good shape."

"Are we the closest ship, Michelle?" She nodded softly, and the captain pinched the bridge of his nose, before touching a button on his command chair. They were suppose to be lying doggo while the rest of the division tried to find them, but there were things with far higher priorities then _just_ an exercise. 

"Engineering, bring the wedge up; helm, I want to intercept her ASAP …" the ship's impeller nodes had been hot and the wedge came up quickly. They rapidly began to accelerate towards the light cruiser and Mike bit her lip as the feeds from her active sensors came online, showing her just how bad the damage was.

"ID confirmed, Captain, she's Apollo." The captain leant over her shoulder and winced. 

"She's in bad shape … Apollo was in Yeltsin's Star with Captain Harrington, wasn't she?" He asked Mike softy enough that she didn't think anyone else would have heard. 

"Commander Truman, Apollo's captain was her second-in-command, sir. She had two destroyers with her as well." Mike swallowed and worked her way back through what she knew of Honor's missions and the timings, and her Captain recognised the look in her eye.

"There's always hope, Mike. Comm, record a message for the flag."

The comm officer's fingers danced across his terminal, and he indicated for his CO to speak.

"Admiral White Haven, this is the Warspite; we're moving to render aid to the Apollo. Captain Ajax, clear." The lieutenant replayed the message quickly, and then nodded. "Get that away, lieutenant."

* * *

"Sir, message to the squadron from the flag. All ships of the squadron to confirm readiness for immediate departure for Yeltsin's Star ... and there's a second, private message from the admiral, Sir. As we're already in position, we're to rendezvous with the Apollo and bring Commander Truman onboard. The admiral wants her to brief him on what's happening in Yeltsin."

Captain Ajax's eyes flicked back to Mike, and then he turned back to the lieutenant. "Confirm receipt of both messages, James." He turned back to Astrogation. "How long till we intercept Apollo, Helm?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The events at the Protector's Palace, the destruction of "Principality" and the raid on Blackbird base took place as in canon; at this point the only change is who picked up Alice Truman on the way out of system.
> 
> \--- 
> 
> For people more at home on [DW](http://morrigans-eve.dreamwidth.org/172628.html) or [LJ](http://morrigans-eve.livejournal.com/168267.html), please comment there if you wish. 


	4. A Lost Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice's point of view.

Her astrogation had been spot on, bringing them through the wall almost on top of one of the FTL drones that Alistair had promised her would be there. She breathed a sigh of relief when a Reliant class battlecruiser lit off her drives and began to vector to meet her lamed command (though a small part of her wondered just whose exercise they'd ruined with her squawked message from Honor). It took fifteen minutes to match their vectors and there had been the order from Admiral White Haven for her to leave Apollo in her exec's command and ... and at least the "duty" Admiral had been a friend of Raoul Courvosier and one who truly did keep his squadron ready. 

It took less than three hours for her to cross back over the alpha wall, on a reciprocal of Apollo's course. She was for the time being, aboard the Warspite, waiting for the squadron to reach the first section of hyperspace that would be safe for her transfer to the ship that bore Hamish Alexander's flag. The battlecruiser's dark skinned tactical officer watched her with a curious gaze as she stood beside the captain's chair, fingers itching for something to _do_ , and that had Alice racking her brains for where she'd met her - the features was unmistakeable - the only person the other commander could be was Michelle Henke, but why was she looking at her like _that_?


	5. Chapter 5

"Skipper, may I accompany Commander Truman to the _Reliant_?"

"Already arranged Guns … but if the admiral or Reliant's Skipper tells you to disappear, you come back right away, Commander. Understood?"

"Aye, skipper."

* * *

Mike settled into her seat on the pinnace, next to Commander Truman and tried to figure out how to begin the conversation, but was beaten to the punch by the other woman.

"So what did I do that I require an escort, Commander Henke?"

"Nothing, ma'am. This is the Skipper pre-empting a request that the Admiral's likely to make and getting me out of his hair for a bit. I think my fretting might be annoying him a bit."

"Honor?"

"Yes ma'am. We were at the academy together, and …"

* * *

Mike sat quietly in the back of the flag conference room on Reliant making her own notes on the briefing and putting it together with the couple of letters she had received from Honor. She had almost bitten through her lip when she saw how much of a mess Honor's face had been after the assassination attempt and actually winced when Alice ran through the tactical situation (as had been when she left Yeltsin) including the weight of metal hunting Fearless and Troubadour.

"Commander Henke, I have a few questions for you. Everyone else is dismissed."


End file.
